My Name Is Albrecht Part 6

The owner of the thrift store trembled as he stuffed gold coins into a bag and handed it to Gonz.

As Gonz accepted the bag and started to move, I said, “Gonz, that amount is not enough to make it twenty times.”

Hearing my words, Gonz made a vein bulge sharply on his smooth bald head. He clenched his rock like fist and raised it.

“W-wait! That is all the gold coins I have in the shop. Even if I want to pay, I have no money left!”

Hearing that, Gonz lowered his fist.

The moment the relieved shop owner let his guard down, Gonz shot out his hand and tore away the cord hanging around the owner’s neck. A key was attached to the end of it.

After seizing the key, Gonz began striding toward the back of the thrift store. I could hear the shop owner shouting for him to stop, but Gonz ignored him and kept going.

The cord around the shop owner’s neck seemed to be the key to the storage room in the back. Thinking that if there was no cash, goods would do, Gonz began rummaging through the storage room.

Gonz lacked knowledge. In exchange, he had cunning. He was bad at thinking things through, but his instincts were sharp, like a wild animal or a monster.

His actions were abnormal, with not a trace of planning. Yet he had the wit and intuition to spot something like the storage room key at a glance.

With such an abnormal body to go along with that, perhaps he could survive without being killed even while acting this recklessly.

“Al, take a look at this. It is amazing,” saying that, Gonz brought out a huge axe from the storage room. It was entirely made of metal, with a blade easily twice the size of a normal axe.

Gonz swung the axe around happily. Perhaps because he was not used to handling it, the axe struck the walls and floor, making loud noises.

Each time, the shop owner flinched and shrank back.

Gonz was delighted, but it was clearly a defective product. The weight was concentrated far too much at the tip. Without tremendous strength, no one could properly wield that axe.

To have the strength needed to handle that axe, one would need an extremely high level. By then, their weapon would already be made of black steel.

Perhaps it had been made for noble heavy infantry, as the axe was adorned with beautiful carvings.

With no one able to wield such a defective weapon, it must have passed from place to place until it ended up in the cluster of petty states. The blacksmiths here likely lacked the skill to carve such intricate designs.

I guessed it was being traded as an art piece, meant only for display.

“Sir, please spare us that axe. It is a piece from the MacGavan workshop. Even if you added together all the gold coins I gave you, it would not be enough to pay for that axe.”

The owner of the thrift store clung desperately to Gonz.

Despite having been so terrified of Gonz earlier, he was now desperately resisting, unwilling to let the axe be taken. Either he was a fool who could not read the situation, or he was simply that driven by profit.

After showing signs of thinking for a moment, Gonz plunged his hand into the bag and clenched it. He slammed gold coins onto the counter, then removed the longsword from his back and placed it on the counter.

“It is sturdy and a good weapon. A fine piece.”

With that, Gonz slung the axe over his shoulder and walked out of the shop. The shop owner hurriedly tried to chase after him, but I grabbed the man by the shoulder and shook my head.

It was better to give up. In Gonz’ mind, the deal was already over. If you angered Gonz, it could cost you your life.

I followed after Gonz and left the shop as well, abandoning the shop owner who stood there with an empty, soulless expression.

After we left the slums, Gonz handed me the bag of gold coins as it was.

“My share went toward paying for the axe. Take it.”

I had done nothing, and in fact my life had been saved. I felt I could not accept the money, but it was obvious he would force it on me if I refused.

“Thank you, Gonz. Let me treat you in return.”

“You get it, do you not? Hahahaha!” Gonz laughed loudly, clearly in a good mood.

We would use this money for our party. Gonz wanted to go to a tavern, but I somehow managed to steer us toward a clothing shop instead.

After persuading the reluctant Gonz, we changed into secondhand clothes that were still refined and of high quality.

Because almost none of the clothes fit Gonz’ size, he ended up wearing gaudy, vulgar garments like those of a nouveau riche merchant, stretched tight to the point of bursting.

Once we had changed, I headed for a high class inn. It was nothing compared to the luxury inns I had stayed at during my bureaucrat days, but within the cluster of petty states, it was a first rate establishment.

Seeing how Gonz and I were dressed, the guards hesitated for a moment over whether to block our entry, but we were allowed inside.

At the reception desk, I made a conscious effort to speak as politely and elegantly as possible.

Perhaps because of that, we were not refused lodging. I handed the manager gold coins as compensation for his trouble and asked him to procure the supplies we would need for our journey.

If he assumed that we were people of high status traveling incognito and pretending to be commoners, that would be ideal. Even if not, he would at least work hard enough to justify the fee.

As long as he gathered what we needed for the trip, I had no complaints.

It was already night, so many shops were probably closed. Still, since I had paid a large sum, he would surely find a way to gather everything.

We were able to sleep peacefully in the well guarded luxury inn. The next morning, we received the travel supplies and left town.

This should allow us to avoid a great deal of danger. When I explained that to Gonz, he said he did not really get it.

When I told him that everything had been arranged so we could leave town immediately after waking up, he laughed and said it meant we did not have to deal with any annoying shopping.

I was exasperated that Gonz had been willing to shop leisurely despite the chaos we had caused in the town and the slums, but I was alive thanks to him.

There were things I wanted to say, but I was grateful to him, so I swallowed my words. We needed to sleep early to prepare for tomorrow.

A lot had happened today. My emotions were running high, but I was exhausted both physically and mentally. Wrapped in soft bedding that I had not experienced in a long time, I quickly fell asleep.

The next day, we were able to leave town without any particular trouble.

One year had passed since I met Gonz. We were getting along reasonably well.

Because Gonz had gone on rampages and killed shopkeepers and guards, we had been forced several times to abandon our base town in what was practically a midnight escape.

It was not just Gonz. Many adventurers were driven out of towns due to criminal behavior.

At first, it wore me down, but I had grown used to it. Gonz had some issues controlling his emotions, but he possessed high combat ability and never betrayed me.

For someone like me, who had fatal flaws as an adventurer, he was more than sufficient as a partner.

Back in bureaucrat school, I had trained alongside adventurers to raise my level, but I stopped at level fifteen.

I knew about the wall at level fifteen, but as a bureaucrat, I did not need combat strength. I thought it was a waste of time and money and stopped there.

Back then, I looked down on colleagues who desperately tried to raise their levels, thinking them foolish. Now I regret it. With everything lost, the only thing I could rely on was my own strength.

I had underestimated the importance of preparing for the worst, an essential part of risk avoidance. Even someone like me, a defective adventurer, might have been respected if I had surpassed the level fifteen wall.

I have a fatal flaw as an adventurer. Not only do I lack combat technique, but I cannot injure living beings.

I had disliked violence since childhood. When it came to harming living creatures, a psychological restraint kicked in, preventing me from attacking.

When I struck the worthless adventurers who had been exploiting me, I thought I had overcome that block, but it seems that moment was an exception.

Because I cannot attack living beings, I cannot take high paying subjugation requests. Since becoming an adventurer, I had only handled low paying gathering jobs.

When I joined the party of those worthless adventurers and they learned about my flaw, the way they treated me became cruel.

I needed to tell Gonz about my flaw. But I feared that, like those previous adventurers, Gonz would see me as useless and treat me terribly.

Thinking that, I could not bring myself to confess for a long time.

By taking relatively low risk subjugation jobs, and thanks to Gonz’ high combat ability, I had managed to keep it hidden.

However, there was a danger that I would be unable to respond to sudden crises. Thinking this was not good, I gathered my courage and told Gonz the truth.

Gonz responded as if it were nothing. Leave the fighting to me, he said. I will leave the messy, complicated stuff to you, Al. He grinned broadly.

It was not just simple goodwill. It benefited Gonz as well. Since teaming up with me, he said the work had become easier and his income had increased.

He must have been exploited badly before, because even after splitting rewards with me, he was earning more than before. Still, Gonz was a true adventurer when it came to money, with no interest in saving.

He spent as much as he had on alcohol and women, and as a result, he was always broke.

I could not harm living beings, but I believed I could still contribute in combat, so I bought a shield.

By using the shield to interfere with monsters’ actions, I could prevent Gonz from being surrounded.

I apprenticed myself to an adventurer renowned for shield work and learned the techniques. Slowly but steadily, my skills improved.

At first, I was terrified of monsters and could barely move. But after repeated real combat experience, I gained courage.

Now, by watching Gonz’ movements and using my shield to disrupt monsters, I could control the situation to some extent.

With battles becoming more stable, we could take on dangerous but high paying jobs. Over this past year, I had gained confidence as an adventurer.

Today, there was a large scale subjugation request involving multiple parties working together. We achieved great results and earned a substantial reward.

Gonz was in high spirits, making a huge commotion at the tavern attached to the adventurers’ guild. I had joined him at first, but later slipped away and was now drinking quietly alone at another establishment.

The Minor States has poor public safety. Walking around alone is dangerous, but the lord of this town places great emphasis on maintaining order. Because of that, carrying swords within the town is prohibited.

Carrying a knife for self defense is permitted, and I believe I could manage if someone attacked me with a knife.

I heard the sound of rain. Whenever I heard rain, I felt deeply melancholy. I did not feel like making a ruckus in a tavern.

On rainy days, I remembered her. When it rained and the air grew chilly, she and I liked to lie naked, wrapped together in sheets, holding each other.

The warmth of our skin and the sound of our hearts were enveloped by the rain, blending together into one, and it felt as though we understood each other without needing words.

So on rainy days, I sought warmth, lying with prostitutes or with tavern waitresses I seduced using sweet words. I felt physical pleasure, but my heart remained cold.

As if to shake off my melancholy, I drank. Distilled liquor from the Megad Empire burned my throat. It was a terribly crude product, but in the Minor States it was considered a luxury.

I need to return to the inn before the alcohol consumes me completely. Thinking that, I left the shop. The rain had grown heavier, and I was soaked through, but it felt pleasant against my body heated by drink.

As I walked toward the inn, I noticed a lone merchant. My heart leapt violently.

It was that merchant. The one who had trampled my pride aboard the ship traveling from the Megad Empire to the Minor States.

I thought, “what an unpleasant sight,” and tried to avert my gaze. At that moment, something caught my eye.

The wallet the merchant took out to pay for his goods. That wallet was my stolen wallet. The one stolen from me by that merchant. He was the one who had humiliated me while I was dying from hunger and thirst.

I must have looked ridiculous to him. He must have reveled in his sense of superiority. A torrent of emotion surged through me, far beyond what the word “anger” could express.

It was a wallet anyone could tell was expensive at a glance. Perhaps it was only natural that it would be targeted. I can admit that my own carelessness played a part.

Even so, he had gone ahead and used it. That wallet was a gift from her, from that woman, for my birthday.

Even while living together with me, a bureaucrat, she had refused any special treatment for her family’s shop. I thought she was noble, someone who valued modest living.

From her modest income, she had given me such an expensive gift. It must have been difficult for her, and I was happy about her feelings. Even after realizing that everything had been a lie, I could not bring myself to throw it away.

To make it seem as though I had simply vanished from daily life, I told myself I needed to take it with me. That was my excuse for carrying a luxury wallet completely unsuited for flight.

And so, I caught someone’s attention.

“Hehehe…” A laugh escaped me naturally. My rain soaked body was chilled to the bone.

I followed the merchant. Perhaps he was dealing in shady goods, because he headed toward an area with no people around.

I looked around, confirmed there was no one nearby, and approached him.

Standing behind the merchant, I clamped my left hand over his mouth. With a knife in my right hand, I stabbed him in the back.

“Mmph!”

A muffled scream leaked from his mouth. I pulled the knife out and stabbed him in the back again and again. Over and over. Again and again.

The humiliation I had endured, my rage toward that woman, my disappointment in my own foolishness. I poured all of it into the knife and drove it into the merchant.

When I came to my senses, the area was soaked in blood, and in my right hand I was holding a knife snapped off at the base.

Whether from the knife itself or something else, my right hand was covered in wounds. Only now did a sharp pain shoot through it.

I had hurt a living being. I had killed a person. And yet… I felt nothing.

No sense of accomplishment, no regret. Those ordinary emotions did not well up. Only the cold of the torrential rain remained vividly in my heart.

I returned to the inn without drawing attention.

Gonz, who had been making a fool of himself drinking at the tavern, stared in shock when he saw me covered in blood. Without saying anything, I headed to my room.

I sat down on the bedding. Blood dripped from my right hand, and the pain strongly asserted its presence. Still, I simply stared at the ceiling. Then, someone banged violently on the door.

“Al, it’s me! Are you okay? You were covered in blood!”

I moved my sluggish body and opened the door.

“Gonz, I killed someone.”

“…I see. Then we need to get ready to run. Al, pack your things too. We leave at dawn!”

With that, Gonz left.

No matter the situation, Gonz never changes. I let out a small laugh, treated my right hand, and packed my belongings.